Waiting for new funding details on Ken-Betwa: Niti Aayog

Niti Aayog is awaiting the Water Resources Ministry's detailed proposal regarding changing the funding pattern of the government's Rs 9,393-crore ambitious Ken-Betwa inter-state river linking project.
The funding ratio between the Central and states is to be changed from 60:40 to 90:10.
"The Water Resources Ministry had written a letter to Niti Aayog to sort out funding issues of Ken-Betwa inter-state river linking project. But the Ministry has not sent 'a proper detailed formal proposal' to Niti Aayog to change funding pattern of Ken-Betwa inter-state river linking project from 60:40 to 90:10," a senior government official told PTI .
"So, no final decision has been taken on the funding patter of the project," he added.

The project comes under Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) in which the Centre contributes 60 per cent funds and the rest is by the state. But the Water Resources Ministry has asked Niti Aayog to change the funding pattern to 90:10 ratio, given that it is a national project.
The first of its kind project covers parts of Madhya Pradesh and poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. It has received clearances for the first phase from the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), Tribal Affairs Ministry and lately from the Environment Ministry's green panel EAC.

However, the Environment Ministry's final nod to the project is still awaited as it decides taking into account the recommendations of its Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC).

Last week, Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti had said, "I am quite happy that the first inter-state river linking project has received green panel's nod."
However, the funding pattern issues need to be sorted out with the Finance Ministry, she had said at the third edition of Jal Manthan conference.
"I am hopeful that we will clear this hurdle as well. I feel we will clear this hurdle very soon and we will launch the project in the beginning of 2017," she had said.
Environment Ministry's green panel has recommended clearances to the project by delinking Landscape Management Plan (LMP) which is to be put in place for conservation of tigers in the Panna Tiger Reserve.

The project envisages construction of a dam across the
river Ken in Chhatarpur district in Madhya Pradesh to irrigate 6.35 lakh hectares, provide drinking water in Bundelkhand region and generation of 78 MW hydropower.
Of this, 3.69 lakh hectares will be covered in Madhya Pradesh's Chattarpur, Tikamgarh and Panna districts. The remaining 2.65 lakh hectares of area falls in Uttar Pradesh's Mahoba, Banda and Jhansi districts.
A total of 10 villages consisting of 1,585 families are likely to be affected by this project. About 9,000 hectare would be submerged, of which 4,141 hectare forestland is in Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.

The project comprises two powerhouses of 2x30 MW and 3x6 MW each, two tunnels of 1.9 km long upper level, 1.1 km long tunnel lower level and a 221 km long Ken-Betwa link canal, proposed on the left bank of the river.
The project was first mooted in the early 1980s but was actively taken up by the previous NDA government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It was then challenged in the Supreme Court, which finally gave the nod in 2013.